When Love Said Goodbye
by Hidan-el-Jashinist
Summary: Thalia has returned to camp, free of her oath to Artemis. With her regained mortality, and now older best friends Percy and Annabeth, how will she fair when the demigod life hits her once again full force. A/N I haven't finished HoO yet, so I'm assuming everyone is still alive that is alive at the end of MoA. M for Language and maybe more, depends on how it strikes me
1. Thalia's Back

Percy sat on the porch of the big house with Chiron, enjoying a nice light beer, after all he was 18 now, and you could drink at 18 in Greece, in camp was good as Greece right? Well, Chiron seem to think so. It was a warm afternoon, it was December, but it was always warm at camp, and Percy was finally getting to enjoy just being at camp once again. Annabeth came out of the big house, kissed him on the cheek, and went off to go teach some battle strategy class or something. 3 minutes later, Percy spied a familiar sight coming over the hill. If you wasn't mistaken, it was Thalia grace, one of her she's very best friends. He read the meter and nearly tackled her with a giant hug.  
"Where are the hunters?" Asked Percy when he noticed she was alone, "I mean you are there lieutenant right?"  
"Well," answer Thalia, breaking away from the embrace, "that has a lot to do with why I'm here. I'll explain later when there are more people around so I don't have to explain it more than once. Then the two of them walk back to camp to get Thalia checked in."  
That night after dinner Percy, Annabeth, Chiron, and Thalia gathered in the living room of the big house to tell the tale of how she ended up here at Camp alone.  
"Well," begin Thalia, "Artemis and I had a huge fight. It was something along the lines of me having to always be in charge and her technically being the leader but never actually being around to lead. She said it was my job is lieutenant, and I said it was her job is Queen of the huntresses. She claimed she had bigger duties on Olympus, but I know better than that, we all do. At the end of it, she said why don't you just leave then, and I said maybe I will, in through the circlet she'd given me after. She was all like if you walk out this camp, your blessing is good as gone, and I was like, that's fine with me. Thankfully, we were only in New Hampshire hunting a White Stag so it wasn't all that far to get here, at least compared to what I've done in the past"  
Then Chiron asked, "So that's it? You're no longer immortal? All the years you spent with her we just lost to the wind?"  
"Yeah well, my birthday's in a couple days, so I only lost a couple years really. Anyway, that means I get to be the little kid this time," said Thalia punching Percy in the arm and giggling.  
"Well anyway," said Annabeth, "fight or no fight it's always nice to have you at camp. Maybe you can teach a course on using a spear in combat. Or maybe on using…"  
Thalia cut her off short. "I just want to be a camper for once. I want to go to classes and climb the wall and eat dinner with my friends. I don't want to be worried about teaching or being a leader come I did that for 4 years, I don't want to worry about that for a while."  
"I have a great idea," said Percy, "you could tag along with me for a week or so until you get back into the camp mood."  
"That sounds like a fun time. But hey, I've got to get to bed it's been a long day".  
"Hey, I'm walking back that way, why don't we go back together. I need my sleep too," said Percy.  
That night, however, Percy had weird dreams, and for a demigod dreams were never to be taken lightly. He thought Annabeth and Thalia and himself fighting a huge monster when it came out of the ground and killed Annabeth. The scene played over and over again in his head until he couldn't even tell what was real and what was fake. How many times he saw it, he couldn't move I couldn't scream I couldn't save her. The only thing that broke Percy from his terror was a knock at the door.

"Percy!" Shouted Thalia, "you're late for breakfast. Everyone is waiting for you, because you're the senior camp counselor! She ceaselessly pounded on the door, forcing Percy to get up and tell her he was awake."

"I'm up, I'm up, I'm up!" Replied Percy, "I'll be out in just a minute I need to grab a shirt and some pants, he said pulling the door open to see Thalia trying to look the opposite way into his peep hole."

Thalia, looking slightly aggravated, looked down at Percy's Trident print boxers and turned several shades of red. Her electric blue eyes rows up to meet Percy's once again. She stuttered for a moment then darted off to go to breakfast. It then occurred to Percy, that he probably shouldn't have answered the door in his boxers. He threw on a camp half-blood t-shirt, trusty pair of jeans, and the blue jacket Annabeth had gotten for him for his birthday and ran after her.

After the boxer incident, the day went fairly well. Percy and Thalia had a nice time around camp, climbed the wall, went swimming, and had a fun time failing together at the archery range. When dinner rolled around, the two of them were laughing so hard that somebody thought they were the ones who TP'd the Hermes cabin. I mean, that was the Ares cabin, but hey anything to take away Clarisse's ego. Annabeth saw the two of them sitting together at the head table with Chiron, and although she knew she had nothing to worry about between the two of them, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. After all, she was more athletic, and had that whole punk-chic thing going on, and her breasts were bigger and perkier, and she could make Percy laugh like he hadn't since the titan war. She shrugged off the sight and went to the nightly activities.

That night in capture the flag Percy and Thalia had a great double play bringing home the flag for their team. They ran a dual pinsir position spreading out the other team's defence allowing Percy and Thalia to sneak up to and knock out the guards, taking the flag and that evening at the camp-fire something even more unexpected happened.


	2. A New Quest

t was the first friday of Christmas vacation so the campfire was a cheery orange. The Apollo cabin was leading [those who chose to participate] in some Greek Christmas carols. Who could forget the classics: siopilí nýchta, rígona kálanta, and sas efchómaste Kalá Christoúgenna. Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia sat near the back of the amphitheater laughing at Will making a fool of himself. Percy had his arm slung over Annabeth's shoulders. Being around her made him so happy; it was like she made him whole, like hadn't felt since the end of the titan war. Program was wrapping up when Rachel, who percy didn't even know was at camp, walked up to center stage. She had the foggy look in her eyes that she got when she was about to drop a hot new prophecy.

The arena fell eerily silent, the fire dropped to a chilling blue, and rachel began to speak. "The daughter of thunder will travel to the devil's trench, travel will she in company of three, one will live broken and torn, one will survive wishing to not have been born, one will be consumed by the rage of a millennium."

The air in the amphitheater felt icy cold as a hundred pair of eyes turned and looked directly at Thalia. She would have been upset at everybody staring, but she was already absolutely terrified. She knew this meant she was being called on a quest, but for one goddamn time in her life couldn't she just be normal?

Chiron stood up and walked to the fire. He motioned for Thalia to join him, and began to say, "Thalia this is your quest, time for you to choose who will go with you, but if you want to give it some more thought feel free."

Thalia stood, not 100% sure she knew what she was doing, and said a bit exasperated, "Percy and Annabeth, shit, was that too fast? It's just that I don't really know who else I would take."

Percy and Annabeth stood next to her, and put their arms around her shoulders. "Hey you're one of my best friends, began Percy, I would walk to hell and back with you, I mean you kind of almost did once."

Then Annabeth chimed in, saying, "yeah me too, I mean I've been there twice already, but for you, who's always been there for me, I would gladly go there again. The irony of it all, was that they were just about to do that very thing."

That night Thalia had some weird dreams, which, as I mentioned before, should never be taken lightly. She saw herself in a wide expanse of desert. In front of her, Percy and Annabeth we're fighting a wurm alone. She ran forward but it just seemed to get farther and farther away. It lunged at Percy, but Annabeth push him out of the way, and Percy stood up, cackled, and summoned 3 more to his aid. Thalia looked on in horror as Percy's wurms tore Annabeth to pieces. He turned to her, and his face molded into that of her father, saying, "I told you baby girl, don't trust anyone…" Thalia woke in a cold sweat, and looked at our clock. The time read 3:17. She knew she couldn't get back to sleep, so she decided to pack her things for the quest. Sometime around 4:30 though she passed out on her bed from exhaustion.

The next morning Annabeth got Percy and Thalia up bright and early to start packing for the quest, she had practically decided it was her quest even though she knew full well it was Thalia's. Annabeth began to think that Thalia and Percy were almost a little too much alike. With both of them, she had to pound on their doors for nearly 10 minutes before they even recognized that she was at the door. They were both conked out on their beds, and they both had the same terrible taste in music.

When she opened the door to the Zeus cabin Annabeth realized Thalia had packed the night before. Her bag, her bow and arrows that Artemis had given her, and Aegis were lying neatly in a pile in the middle of the room. Thalis on the other hand, still laying in her bunk in the back corner in her pj's. Annabeth pulled her out of bed, and set her to getting dressed. Thalia put on a Green Day shirt, a pair of skin tight, stretchy, black jeans, and the black jacket she'd had forever. She paused for a second, remembering the fact that it was December, and chose to also put on a grey beanie.

Percy on the other hand, was not quite so prepared. His cabin was a mess, and none of his stuff was packed aside from Riptide which was always in his pocket. Thankfully, packing for Percy was pretty simple. Annabeth just threw in a couple of Camp Half Blood shirts, a couple pairs of jeans, his wallet, which still had a Lotus Casino credit card in it for some reason, socks and underwear, and a magic capsule bed, which leo had invented just for such occasions. Thalia gave Percy a sharp knee high boot to the rib cage, getting him out of bed in a hurry. As it turned out, Percy had worn last night's t-shirt and jeans to bed, so Thalia threw a blue coat she'd found on the floor at him and dragged him out of the cabin.

The three of them met with Chiron and Argus in the driveway of the big house. Chiron handed them out some supplies, which they didn't have themselves like nectar, ambrosia, Gold drachmas, and some spare cash should they have a human necessity. Just then, Leo ran up the hill panting and wheezing to give Thalia, who he still had a huge crush on, a pull string backpack that worked like his tool belt.

"Anything you want," said Leo, "as long as it fits in the bag, you can take anything out of it... and don't think I forgot about you two jokers," he continued, "for you, Annabeth, I give you an anywhere-iris-messenger". He handed Annabeth a small box not much bigger than a phone, " All you have to do is push the button in the middle and throw in a drachma. Just like that it sends an iris message. And for you Percy, a special camp half-blood t-shirt made with woven magical bronze. In all our testing with the duplicate one, we found it to be blade, bullet, arrow, and tooth resistant. Won't be getting skewered anytime soon, will you now?" he finished with a wink.

Thalia looked at Percy, and laughed as he stripped down to change his shirt. It didn't feel any different, but what was Percy supposed to know about that. The three of them thanked leo and got into the SUV with Argus. Thalia was still sniggering about percy stripping right then and there, which turned Annabeth's face all sorts of red, as they drove off the property.


	3. The Journey Begins

About an hour later, the three of them were on a bus headed west. It been awhile since Percy had been on public transit, and he couldn't say he missed it. There was some creep staring at Annabeth, and some smelly bum who kept trying to sleep on the shoulder. Too many hours later, they got off in Indianapolis. The air was crisp, the ground was covered in a layer of white, and the Sun reflected like a mirror off the glassy surface of the snow.

Annabeth, who suddenly had a great idea, turned to the others and said, "Guys, we should totally get each other presents while we're here. It's going to be Christmas in a couple of days, we shouldn't give up getting each other gifts just because we're on a quest."

Percy replied, "That's a great idea, but I think, since I'm the only one with a credit card, and you two only have so much cash that we should each only get a gift for one other person. Like, Annabeth could shop for me, I could shop for Thalia, and Thalia could shop for Annabeth."

After looking at the contents of their wallets, the others agreed wholeheartedly, and they all rushed off in different directions to buy things. Percy just happened upon a place called the Mediterranean gift Emporium. Walking inside, he saw scaly green man behind the counter. Percy was a bit taken aback, but he didn't particularly smell like a monster, so he decided to have a look inside.

"Welcome to my shop, began manager, how may I best suit your needs. Maybe a snow globe, or porcelain angel, it is the Christmas season after all, and I can find a gift for any…" the man stopped, staring at Percy's t-shirt. "Well, my little demigod friend, if you'd like I have a special section for you in the back."

The man pushed open a door that read 'authorized personnel only' in big capital letters, and motion for Percy to go inside. As he moved around the counter, he could see the man was more than just a little scaly. His entire bottom half was snake... Percy became even more skeptical that this man or snakes intentions for him were entirely store related. That being said, he figured he'd might as well see what the man had to offer. Maybe if he bought something, he wouldn't be murdered.

Inside the door, Percy found a much larger storefront. They were racks and racks of weapons, scrolls, armor, potions, monsters in cages, and even in the back, cases of nectar and ambrosia. Percy was perusing the shop, when he saw something he thought would be perfect for Thalia. On a neck stand, was a small silver necklace, with a yellow diamond set in the middle shaped like a lightning bolt.

Percy called the man over, saying, I'd like to buy this, how much does it cost." The shopkeeper slithered over picked up the necklace, and placed it on a mannequin.

"I must tell you, sir, you have good taste in jewelry. This particular piece is quite special," he replied and tapping the small lightning bolt in the center of the amulet. As he did so the silver spread and darkened turning into a polished bronze chest plate with bountiful curves in the chest area. "Of course the necklace will accommodate any body type, so long as it is female. It is said Hephaestus crafted this piece himself once for a favored mortal warrior of Zeus's. I believe her Janice, or maybe John, no that's a man's name… Joan, that was it!"

"Joan of Arc?" asked Percy and the man's face lit up. He said that that was definitely the one. Impressed Percy pulled out his Lotus Card and handed it to the man. He feigned a smile, as though he didn't want to take his card, but had to because money was money. With one swift motion, the man put the necklace in a box, swiped the card, drew up the receipt, and placed the receipt in front of Percy to sign. Percy pulled out Riptide and put into pen mode so he could sign the bill, which, according to the receipt, was a hefty 849.99 drachmas, when he heard a familiar voice.

"Hello? Anyone in here?" cried Annabeth as she wandered the mortal side of the shop.

The store owner called out, "We're in the back, come on in."

As Annabeth opened the door she jumped and bumped over a spear rack when she saw the man ringing up Percy. Annabeth motioned towards the snake saying, 'Onster-may ehind-bay ou-yay,' to which Percy glared back, 'I know, be cool...' When the shopkeeper saw Annabeth he nearly melted out of his scales. He slithered over to her, a pinkish hue in his olive scales.

"My dear demigod, you look so lovely, just like your mother. Never have I seen such beauty in a mortal since the age of heroes."

"Umm," began Annabeth, not sure whether to be more concerned that he thought she looked like her mother, or that he might've thought she was a child of, gods forbid, Aphrodite, "My mother is Athena, not Aphrodite," but she was cut short.

"But of course she is. Athena, my sweet Athena. So dearly did I love her, alas she was a physically chaste goddess, and my mind was not of par with hers. Ah, I'm droning on aren't I. Allow me to introduce myself. I am former King Cecrops I. Long long ago I founded a great city in the name of your mother, but as it was close to the sea, Poseidon believed he had claim to it as its patron."

Annabeth cut Cecrops off, "Wait, then you're saying YOU founded Athens?"

"But of course," replied the king, "Now my dear I will allow you, for your mother's sake, choose any one item from my selection of legendary and magical items, free of charge, just allow me to conclude this sale over here." Annabeth looked back at Percy as she began to wander the rows of clothes. He signed the receipt, Cecrops pulled out a large leather bound ledger and the snake wrote in the small box Percy had just bought. As he slithered back over to her, Annabeth spied a blue track jacket that looked like it would be just Percy's size. She took it off the rack and held it up. The color was so vivid. Annabeth knew Percy would love it.

"What can you tell me about this jacket," Annabeth asked.

"Ah, a fine gift for the winter months. It's made of…" began the king, but Annabeth cut him off.

"How did you know it was a gift?"

"Well, I assumed since your friend…'

"My friend? How did you know we knew each other?"

"My dear, my affection for your mother will only get you so far," hissed Cecrops," I am not on her level, but I am not daft. You both smell strongly of the same strawberry field, meaning either you are demigods who are day laborers from...," he took a breath of the air around Annabeth, "New York? or you are from Dionysus's camp on long island. Also, Mr. Jackson was wearing a Camp Half-Blood shirt, and your bag has CHB monogrammed on it." hissed

"I'm sorry, I thought maybe you were like psychic and were gonna use my brain against me. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened." Annabeth apologized.

"As I was saying, it's made of borean giant fur, making it very warm and wind resistant in winter, entirely hydrophobic, and moderately cut resistant. I'm sure your friend would love it."

Annabeth blushed and walked back over to the register where Cecrops gave her the "Athenian Discount." Annabeth asked if CHB could be put on the back and with a swipe of his hand there it was. Apparently, Athena had gifted Cecrops with more than just an olive tree Cecrops wrapped the jacket in a nice box and even wrote up a card for it before wishing Annabeth a Merry Christmas.

Annabeth walked out onto the sidewalk to find the wind howling even more than before. She ran down the street and ducked into the first cafe she came across. She turned around only to find Thalia and Percy already waiting for her, sipping on some hot cocoa.

"Babe, we're over here!" called Percy motioning towards himself. When Annabeth sat down she saw the others had also finished their shopping. Percy had his small, square, hinged box and Thalia had one that was about the length of a shoe box, but not quite as wide.

"Hey," said Thalia, "since we've all gotten our gifts, why don't we just give them while it's convenient. Who knows where we'll be in six days."

"Yeah, and maybe on the quest if we have to, we can use the gifts we got each other."

The three of them each opened up their presents simultaneously. In the package that Thalia got for Anna Beth, the long bronze dagger. Thalia had remembered that Luke had originally gotten his knife in Indianapolis, and she had headed over to the store where he bought it in order to get one that was exactly the same as the one she lost in Tartarus.

When Percy opened his present, his eyes lit up. The blue monogrammed jacket Annabeth had bought from Cecrops was just perfect. Annabeth explained all the bonuses that came with it, like it being warm and protective, meanwhile Percy took off his old coat in order to put the new gift on. Next, Percy handed Thalia the box that container medallion. Percy insisted she put it on, even though it wasn't quite her style. However, when she put it on, it morphed into a black choker with the same lightning bolt in the middle. When Talia touch the lightning bolt, she was surprised defined it folded out into a full chest plate including arm guards

.

That night, they all got a motel room, and stayed up way past the camp curfew watching reruns of Friends and Full house. Percy couldn't remember the last time you had this much fun on a quest. Meanwhile, Thalia couldn't get the memory of her dream out of her head. Over and over again, she saw Percy's face go evil and stared in horror as Annabeth was torn to pieces.


	4. The Reborn Hunter

The next morning Thalia woke with a start. She looked at the clock in the middle of the two hotel beds and saw that it read 5:30. She knew she wouldn't get back to sleep, since she never did, so she decided to get up and take a shower. The lukewarm water, as uncomfortable as it was, was just what she needed right then. It calmed her nerves and helped her to think straight. When she stepped out of the shower, and pulled on some clean clothes she gingerly reached for the choker that person has gotten her. The thought ran through her mind, what if I had never been Hunter, what if I had never left camp, would I have been the one buying a gift for Percy instead of Annabeth, but when she heard a knock on the door these thoughts fled from her mind.

When tell you open the door, the person standing before her was not her friend Annabeth, but the knucklehead Percy Jackson in his flame print boxers. They looked each other up and down, and both their faces turned bright red. They did a quick dance of seeing who was going on which side of the door before Percy slipped into the shower and shut the door behind him. Thalia was breathing heavy, her face still the color of fresh salami. The lights weren't on in the room and Thalia could see Annabeth getting ready to take her shower. She walked up to Thalia, who was still in a towel, and greeted her good morning before knocking on the door, telling Percy to hurry up. As a result Thalia could hear Percy increase the pressure of the shower to drown out Annabeth's shouting. This brought a smile to Thalia's face, giving her fond memories of her first stay at camp, before the Titan War, before the Giant War, before her soul was crushed by the guilt of having feelings for her best friend. Percy finished his shower, leaving Annabeth with only cold water. Within 20 minutes they were out on the room, checked out, and on the road once again.

Over the course of the next few weeks the trio of demigods battled every manner of monster or beast, but every night both Thalia and Percy dreamt of Annabeth's death by each other's hands. Meanwhile, at every town they stopped in, Annabeth went by the library to research the place that might be called the devil's heart. It wasn't until they were in Kansas City, where they found themselves being chased by none other than Lycaon himself.

Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth were back to back in an alley, completely surrounded by wolves the size of large sedans. This time, however, Thalia knew the hunters would not be answering the call. it was all the demigods could do just to stay the attack; Thalia had run out of arrows long ago, and between aegis's lack of offensive capabilities and her and Percy's magic being nigh unusable in the snow, they were losing ground fast.

The wolves parted, and their leader walked forward chuckling to himself before snarling, "Ironic, isn't it? Once, child of Zeus, you hunted me with the ferocity of an injured… wolf," he grinned. "17 scars you've given me, bitch, 17. It will be my pleasure to repay each and every one of those scares tenfold."

Lycaon unsheathed a set of long black claws and slowly sauntered towards Thalia. He raised his hand, avarice filling his face. Suddenly a silver sword sprouted from his chest. His face changed from that of a hungry lust to that of shock. The black hair all over his body shriveled and fell off, his claws turned to dust, and his ichor slowly turned red.

"What? How? What manner of sorcery is this? Over 3 thousand years I've dueled with the silver goddess…"

"Well, you were never hunted by this sword," said the tall Olive skinned man standing behind Lycaon. As he did, all of the wolves around the demigods and their savior shrunk back into the mortal they had once been, seemingly untouched by time. "Today is your lucky day… I smelled Lycaon's filth from Camp and hurried to finish what I should've 3000 years ago."

"Thanks for helping us, but" began Annabeth before she was cut off for being too confrontational with the man who'd saved their lives,

"It'd be nice to know the name of our hero," said Thalia, hoping to learn his name without angering someone with the ability to strip immortality from a being.

"It seems that my name is not common talk anymore, I have become the one who failed in his great hunt… I am Orion. Sometime in the last 5 years Neptune, my father, and yours I'd wager, glancing at Percy, brought me down from the stars and returned to me on of my three greatest creations, this sword, Timoría, which in the modern tongue means retribution. I was told by my, I mean our, father that while I slept it rested in the stars with me. However, that's not really the point. Come with me to my ranch, it'll be a safe place for the night where you can regroup and restock your supplies.

Orion led Thalia and the others to a large farm surrounded by what looked like Olympiad Pines. On the property of the ranch were 6 barrack like building surrounded by other standard farm buildings and a few other mixed structures from various Greek and roman ages gone by. Once reaching the Roman villa next to the barracks Orion took them to a storeroom where he let them fill up on whatever they needed. Thalia made sure to grab extra silver arrows this time, as well as some other specialty items, just in case. Percy, however was far more interested in Orion's sword.

"So, uh, your sword killed an immortal godling… How exactly? I mean it's silver right?"

"That's where you're wrong. This sword is forged from my own invention. I furnished Vulcan's forge, I crafted the bow of Artemis, and I created antepitithium, from the word antepitithemai, which is Greek for fighting back. It is a form of mortal steel, Tempered in a concoction of Stygian water and golden Ichor, forged in charcoal made from Asphodel Poplars. The three blades were then heavily enchanted by the great sorceress Circe. There are two others like it, Antarsia and Chalasmos, Rebellion and Destruction. Timoria, strips the immortality of its victims, Antarsia cuts the very soul, leaving wounds that will not heal on the mortal, and scars on every iteration of an immortal's being, this sword was given to Alexander the great by my eternal ally Hephaestus after Alexander was betrayed by Ares. The third, Chalasmos, would cut through anything and everything the user said it should, but only if Chalasmos dubbed him worthy. This blade would be known to you as Excalibur. I created these blades because I had been betrayed by Artemis. She went with me to hunt the mighty ox Taurus, but left me to fight it alone, which nearly claimed my life, which is when Vulcan, Vesta, and Pluto helped me create Antepitithium, because they too knew the bite of betrayal. I carried one and the other two I entrusted to Hephaestus and Hestia."

"You use the names of the gods interchangeably, why?" asked Annabeth.

"In mythology, I am a constant, like nemesis or Janus. I exist in both Greek and roman worlds simultaneously; their varying names, with a few exceptions, mean nothing to me. As such this camp, Camp Olive-Grove, or Olive-Grove Ranch, is a safe haven and training facility for both Greek and Roman demigods. I was returned to earth only after my hatred for the gods had vanished and I now serve them as I did long ago, as an ally, not a servant."

With that being said, Orion left the trio to finish their packing and went to go call the camp to dinner. Dinner was not anything spectacular. It consisted of what appeared to be meatloaf and peas with a snak-pak of chips and a can of a variety of Bacchacola products. The dining area was nothing like Camp Half-blood, neither the colored shirts, which Percy assumed were cabin designations, or parentage, at least by the diversity of the groups, seemed to matter, red, white, nor black shirted people mixed all together. After dinner Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth were shacked up in the guest quarters of the villa, and for the first time since they left, neither Percy nor Thalia had nightmares. As Thalia lay beneath Percy, the smell of saltwater and his steady breathing comforted her, while Percy was so glad Thalia had chosen him for this quest, because he couldn't imagine what he would be like at camp knowing this is what they would've faced without him

In the morning Annabeth asked if Orion knew the location of the "devil's heart." He told them he'd heard rumors of a daemon graveyard in Death Valley, and so with renewed spirits they headed out for that very location.

 **A/N: If you guys want me to, I have ideas for a complete OC story line about Camp Olive Grove. That being said, I don't want to right an entirely OC story if no one will read it. Let me know and I will try and get that written.**


	5. The Dragon

One train and two smelly buses on Percy's card later he, Thalia and Annabeth set foot on Death Valley National Park sand. Though three would enter, only two of them would leave. There was a sense of dread hanging in the air as Thalia scanned the boards for a tour of the area they were looking for. After half an hour of flipping through tour booklets Annabeth stumbled on a trek to a place called Hatred Mountain, which, according to Shoshone lore was the place where evil spirits went to die.

Percy walked up to the ticket desk to buy their tour passes, and called the other two into the waiting room. An hour later who should walk through the door, but good ole Hermes. He had a tacky getup comprised of a goofy ranger out, flare gun, "walking stick" (Caduceus), and a belt with about half a dozen full sized Nalgene water bottles clipped to it. As he turned toward the room he called out,

"Jackson, party of three?" When his eyes locked onto Percy they lit up like a Christmas tree. "Jackson party, please come with me," motioning for the kids to follow him. After they were in the pre trek room Hermes turned and looked directly at the kids. "You guys now that there is a dragon out their right? That's why I lead this trek; it leaves mortals well enough alone when it smells a god, but three demigods, two of which are children of the big three, will be completely irresistible to that monster. It has been ruing the day it was first slain 4 thousand years ago, and any would be hero will be a light snack compared to its normal prey of mountain cyclopi.

"But," began Thalia, indignantly, "That's why we're here. I was given a quest to kill that thing. If it weren't important I wouldn't have gotten the quest for it."

"I've killed way worse, and who says I'm not just as good as whoever killed this thing last time?" said Percy, crossing his arms and standing next to Thalia. She, however wished he hadn't stood up for her; it made it that much harder to deny her feelings, and damn she was beginning to love the smell of the beach.

"Percy and I survived Tartarus, we can face some stupid dragon, right Percy" added Annabeth, looking to Percy who nodded in agreement. Hermes sighed and opened the door to the trailhead.

Several hours later, the sky was dark, and they had finally reached the butte known as Hatred Mountain. About 3 miles away Hermes said he would go no further, claiming he would not lead heroes to their death, and if they wanted to turn back it would be no shame, but even one step further and he would not be responsible if any of them died.

When none of them chose to turn back Hermes sighed, "So be it," and was gone. They walked the last few miles in silence. When they were about half a mile from the butte, they heard a roar that could curdle golden ichor. An absolutely massive black shape darted from a cave in the side of the rock and dove to meet them. The demigods rushed back as it slammed into the sand creating a shockwave of quartz and feldspar. It reared its dark scaly head and shot a plume of green fire from its mouth and charged Thalia, and thanks to the gift Percy had gotten her, she narrowly avoided having to go home with her guts in a bag. Riptide seemed to be ineffective at cleaving its scales, though it surprised all of the demigods when a shard of scale broke off and landed in the sand a few yards away. This enraged the beast, causing it to take its eyes off of Thalia. It sniffed Percy before uttering the words, "O gios tou theoú tis thálassas, adelfós tou kynigoú: orycheío foniás, thánatos gia sas, sýntoma gi 'aftón, tóte o patéras sas kai óloi oi álloi Olýmpioi." which Percy didn't entirely understand, but he heard the word thanatos, which he knew meant death, which was never good.

"No way," gasped Annabeth, "Orion killed this thing?"

"What!?" shouted Thalia as she launched a hefty lightning bolt at the monster.

Annabeth gave a rough translation of what that dragon had said. Its words led her to believe Orion was the one who killed it so long ago. She told Percy only he could kill it, unless of course he had a half-brother of his laying around somewhere, but the dragon just chuckled and dove at Percy, who took a nice chunk out of cheek with Riptide.

The dragon only got angrier and angrier as Percy continued to evade him. However, when a lucky shot from Thalia's bow hit the dragon in the eye it turned to her and tossed her against a rock. Percy ran to her and the dragon snapped at him, but was greeted only with another jab in his eye, this time from Annabeth who was latched onto his face. He knocked her off only to receive yet more arrows and cuts. Percy was beginning to wish he had kept his curse of Achilles, at least then he wouldn't have to worry about those massive fucking teeth.

The monster gave out another mighty roar. Its endgame was now beginning. It had to die now, or it would be them who would die. Somehow it seemed faster, stronger, and even more bloodthirsty. It launched itself into the air, flew higher and higher until it began to descend. Aimed directly at Percy, it looked like his old buddy death was about to come for him. It was close enough for Percy to feel its breath when he was shoved from behind. He looked back and saw Annabeth mouth, 'I love you, goodbye…' before the dragon clamped down, consuming Annabeth and a section of his leg.

As Percy sat, bleeding in the sand, the dragon gulped down the contents of its mouth. Percy threw riptide as hard as he could, causing it to lodge between the dragon's eyes. Thalia rushed forward to pull Percy away, but, with tears streaming down his face, he shouted out, causing an orb of blue magic to collect near his hand. Thalia felt what little moisture was in the dry up as it was added to the ball. Before long the magic was the size of a basketball, and launched at the dragon hitting it square in the head.

It seemed to shake off the attack. However cracks appeared on riptide, bright and glowing like the eyes of a god. Then came the boom. Riptide exploded powdering the dragon and leaving a crater in the desert. The last thing Percy saw before the pressure of the blast forced him into unconsciousness were the faces of Hermes, Thalia, and his father.


End file.
